Battle of Swiecie

The Battle of Swiecie (21 January 1813) was a major battle of the War of the Sixth Coalition, taking place in the town of Swiecie, Poland. As Napoleon's Grande Armee withdrew from its failed Russian Campaign, a Prusso-Russian army under generals Scharnhorst and Barclay de Tolly attacked the French. The French fought for control of the Prussian Hills and took up position on the two ridges, holding off Russian and Prussian attacks that left thousands dead on both sides.

Background
The Russian Empire's failure to abide by the Continental System agreement of barring trade with Great Britain led to a retaliatory invasion by the French Empire in the autumn of 1812. Emperor Napoleon won the battles of Smolensk and Borodino and captured Moscow, but failed to force the Russian czar to make peace. Napoleon acknowledged the high cost that his campaign had taken with no gain and, unwilling to take more losses in a prolonged campaign, withdrew from Russia. His army of millions of troops suffered heavy losses, most to disease and cold weather, others to Russian cossack ambushes. Napoleon inflicted heavy losses on Russia as well, but Russia had millions of citizens across its vast empire and called up new names every day to join the army.

Napoleon's defeat encouraged Prussia, Austria, and many other enemies of Napoleon to ally with Russia and declare war. In January 1813, as Napoleon withdrew, the Russians captured Warsaw and ended the puppet Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Napoleon had several Polish troops flock to his command, and confident with his army, resolved to break through Prussian and Russian lines to reach Germany rather than bypass them and allow Prussian and Russian reinforcements to arrive. He faced the 20,000-strong Prusso-Russian Army of Silesia under generals Gerhard von Scharnhorst and Barclay de Tolly at Swiecie in the Prussian Hills.

Dispositions
Both sides were on opposite bases of the hills, and Napoleon and his foes both resolved to take control of the high ground. Napoleon dispatched the larger half of his force to deal with the Russian Opelchenie militia, as they were a larger force. He sent a smaller amount of troops to face the Prussians, anticipating that the Russians would arrive into battle first. Napoleon also had two units of Experimental Howitzers, and dispatched one unit each to both lines.

The problem with Napoleon's plan was achieving his goals in taking over the high grounds. The Russians had only one battery of horse artillery, while the Prussians had to worry about two batteries. The Russian militia were also quicker to run than the Prussian experienced troops, who were more cautious. Therefore, it was likely that the Russians would arrive on the hill before the French.

The Prussian army of Scharnhorst consisted of several regiments of Musketeers in addition to two horse-drawn batteries of 12-lber cannon. Colonels Gorlitz and Falck each led a brigade of Prussian troops that would spearhead the advance up the hill on the French right. The French right was commanded by Toussaint Duchateau, a staff officer of Napoleon, who hovered between the two regiments to inspire them. The French left was led by Mario von Brun, commanding a brigade of Chasseurs a Cheval.

Meanwhile, the Russian army consisted almost entirely of Opelchenie infantry, with one battery of 12-lber horse artillery. The Russians were commanded by Prince Tolly, a great commander who was famous for his war with the Swedes in 1807. His army was larger but weaker due to its composition of bearded conscripts from small villages across the Russian empire. He faced the French left flank.

Battle
Napoleon dispatched a large force of Fusiliers of Line, one regiment of Chasseurs, and two regiments of Chasseurs a Cheval light cavalry to occupy the western half of the hills to face the Russian army. His right flank, under Duchateau, was to be made up entirely of Fusiliers of Line and one regiment of Chasseurs a Cheval as backup. The howitzer units moved slowly, and did not appear until the last minutes of the battle that ensued.

Left Flank
As Napoleon prediceted, the Russians moved out first. His two regiments of Chasseurs a Cheval arrived on the western hill first, and clashed with Russian Cossack Cavalry. Brun's cavalry fought a suicidal battle to buy time for the infantry to arrive at the cost of their blood, and they eventually had to charge the whole Russian army unsupported by infantry or artillery, suffering insanely heavy losses. The French infantry arrived on the left in their time and turn, but not before most of the Chasseurs a Cheval died. The French infantry Chasseurs arrived first and were brought up against two regiments of Russian Opelchenie. Soon, two Fusiliers of Line regiments arrived to back the Chasseurs up, and the battle evolved on the left flank.

Soon, more troops arrived in the form of Arthur Leczynski's Polish Legions, two regiments of troops fresh from local villages. The two Polish Legion forces held off a Russian cavalry charge with the tips of their bayonets, but they cracked under fire from the Russian militia, who grew in deployment as the French line thinned out. The Polish Legions were eventually swamped by Russian infantry as well, but they were aided by fresh French troops that climbed the hills. Battle went well on the left flank for France for a while, but increasing pressure on Napoleon to focus on the right flank allowed the Russians to inflict heavy losses on the French away from the gaze of the French general.

By the time four French howitzers arrived on the heights, the battle was nearly over. The Russians were broken by French attacks, but when the French ran out of ammunition, the French were forced to charge down hill and get close to the Russian troops. The bayonet battle was fierce, and the result was heavy casualties on both sides. French Chasseurs a Cheval charged the Russian general and Prince Tolly was wounded and unhorsed, and his bodyguards fled the battle. Russian forces started to melt away as some French regiments, freed up by the rout of their targeted Russian regiment, assisted another French regiment in attacking another Russian regiment. Russian troops were mown down in the crossfire before a final bayonet charge and a volley of quicklime shot from Russian cannons drove them off.

Right Flank
While clashes began between French cavalry and Russian Opelchenie militia, the French Fusiliers of Line occupied the east ridge of the Swiecie heights. The Prussian brigades of Gorlitz and Falck rapidly moved up the hill and engaged the French Fusiliers of Line, who fired down on them from some height. Gorlitz was mortally wounded leading his brigade uphill; his brigade bore the brunt of the Prussian army during the battle. The Chasseurs a Cheval were dispatched to guard the French right flank should two spare Prussian infantry regiments launch an attack on the French flank. While Napoleon focused on the left flank, believing that his right was holding out, the Prussians attempted to flank the French from the right. The Chasseurs a Cheval took heavy losses in routing one unit of Prussian troops, and were finished off when more Prussian troops arrived and drove them off with bayonets.



The French infantry also suffered heavy losses in this time, as they had less men to fight the Prussians than the left flank did to fight the Russians. Colonel Theo Gentil led a daring bayonet charge against the Prussian troops that engaged his regiment, some two regiments of troops that had succeeded in flanking the French. Gentil was shot in the chest and fell forwards to the ground, but his men carried on and proceeded to inflict heavy losses on the Prussians before returning to the main battle line and firing on the Prussian army.

Observing the rout of many of his right flank units, Napoleon rode to assist them by ralling them. With the rout of his Chasseurs a Cheval, Napoleon's right flank was successfully flanked by Falck's unit. Napoleon led a cavalry charge of his bodyguards against the Prussians, a bold move that risked his life.



Napoleon and his cavalry were winning initially, as the Prussian regiment had low morale after taking heavy losses in battle. Napoleon himself struck Falck down with his sabre, but most of his bodyguards were bayonetted off of their horses and killed. Duchateau was killed by a Prussian soldier, and Napoleon and only one other man were able to escape from the carnage of the battle.

However, the successes of the French troops against the Russians on the left flank allowed some French units to launch a rear attack against the Prussians while the others picked off the remaining few tenacious Russian Opelchenie militia regiments that dared to resume fighting. The Prussians, with only three regiments left after the onslaught with Napoleon's cavalry and Gorlitz's charge, were tenacious in their fighting but were eventually overpowered. General Scharnhorst was wounded in melee with French troops in a small thicket of trees, demoralizing his men. The French army made its final push against the Prussians and drove them from the field, both sides suffering heavy losses.

Aftermath
The Battle of Swiecie was a costly victory for Napoleon, who had lost over 9,000 well-trained troops. His cavalry bore the brunt of the battle, as only one regiment had survived (partially). Napoleon's army inflicted 18,060 losses on the Allies, a crippling amount of losses for the Sixth Coalition. However, Napoleon was in Prussian-held Poland, non-friendly territory, so he had to continue the retreat to Germany to link up with fresh reinforcements under Marshal Joachim Murat, who brought an army from Naples & Sicily to reinforce him.

Swiecie was a mere delay for the Coalition; although two of their best generals were wounded and their Army of Silesia damaged beyond repair for a long while, they had fresh troops pouring in from Russia, Poland, and Prussia. They were soon to be joined by Prince Charles of Sweden (formerly Marshal Bernadotte) and his army, in addition to the vast array of Austrian armies that had not yet seen fighting in the war. Nevertheless, it was a display of good tactics on both sides, with the Allies nearly defeating Napoleon but the French coming out alive once more.